Comments

"Work smarter, not harder"

What snide sarcasm, Ozzie/Jeffie. If you were one of the folks out there flipping houses, just holding homes for as long as it took to sell it, you were taking homes off the market for families who needed them and the money you made was money taken out of their children's food and education budget.

Building homes is honest work. So is buying fixers and fixing them effectively and honestly. Buying habitable homes, slapping on some poor quality paint and substandard floor coverings to make a quick buck isn't honest work towards an honest living.

As usual, you totally missed my point. I am calling you hypocrite socialist monkeys out. You complain and attack capitalism while sucking on its teets. For me I loved building and all that it took to accomplish. Those homes are still there while your life was a mess filled with regrets. Just look at what and how you write. You are a miserable troll moron afraid to use your real name.

Lastly, I provided for myself and family while you were milking the taxpayers. I have zero regrets. Now go back to bed and be sure to wear those depends.

"Building homes is honest work. So is buying fixers and fixing them effectively and honestly. Buying habitable homes, slapping on some poor quality paint and substandard floor coverings to make a quick buck isn't honest work towards an honest living."

Is stiffing or bullying subs into taking pennies on the dollar like dj trump honest work? What about devaluing your real estate in order to lower your taxes? What about condemning illegal workers while employing them? What about over-valuing your real estate used a collateral to get a loan?

WINNING in a strategic sense that will last for over a generation, how many seats on SCOUTS in the next 6 years?? YO YO YOU pony tail of ignorance, pray tell us again why the historic Senate gain is a nothing in your guys world?-

The Senate has been largely focused in the last few months on approving nominees to fill vacancies within the Trump administration, something that doesn’t require input from the House. Since the beginning of the year, they have confirmed more than 200 nominees to positions in the executive branch, circuit courts and district courts, including confirming Californian David Bernhardt to be the new Interior secretary Thursday.

McConnell called confirming the nominations, especially the judicial positions, part of his legacy.

“The impact on the courts has been enormous and positive for the country — young men and women that we’ve been confirming as rapidly as possible who believe the job of a judge is to follow the law,” McConnell said.

Did you hear Taiwan got a bunch of non US anti ship weapon systems in the last year or two? -

China’s People’s Liberation Army said its warships, bombers and reconnaissance aircraft had conducted “necessary drills” around Taiwan on Monday, although it described them as routine.
Tsai said Taiwan was not intimidated by the drills.

“As you may be aware, China’s armed forces yesterday sent a large number of military aircraft and naval vessels into our vicinity. Their actions threaten Taiwan and other-like minded countries in the region,” Tsai said.

“These actions only serve to strengthen our resolve. Our military forces have the capacity, determination, and commitment to defend Taiwan and not allow coercion to dictate our own future,” she said.

Tsai also said the Trump administration had notified Taipei of its third arms sale to Taiwan, the training of pilots at the Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.

“It enhances their abilities to defend our air space. I want to express my appreciation to the U.S. government for the announcement,” she said.

Tsai was speaking at a forum co-hosted by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to mark the 40th anniversary of Taiwan-U.S. ties under the Taiwan Relations Act, following Washington’s decision to ditch formal recognition of Taiwan in favor of China in 1979.
The event was attended by a delegation led by Paul Ryan, the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Well I be a son of a gun. There is one college president out there that stood up for a free thinker without buckling under. A rarity. They can never silence Camille.

“Camille Paglia said something the other day that triggered a group of whinypants college students at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts. They launched a petition to get the school’s president, David Yager, to silence its most famous professor.

I just want to let that sink in: these SJW twerps actually think they can defeat CAMILLE FREAKING PAGLIA!”

Gregory 10:11. --tell me about your first hand research into climate change or your second hand research into climate change.. you have pretzel logic .. because you were not talking about office buildings but homes, therefore comments about trump's business practices are null and void.. what a weasel.. the subject was business practices in the cponsltsuection trades.... Based on that I conclude since you have no first hand research into climate change, your opinion on the subject is null and void.. denial denied..

Morn'n ECO bastards... Your "ECO ain't so ECO.https://dailycaller.com/2019/04/16/will-liz-warren-green-energy-wildlife/
From birds getting fried in flight, or whacked out of the sky,
to killing "relocated" crawling critters..
Not to mention the square miles of sensitive lands paved over by solar panels and/or mirrors.
Windmills as far as the eye can see...(The new scenic"pretty")

And wait till you get the power bill for that "clean, cheap energy" (three to four times what you pay now)

And from the same loonie bin thinking burning food in your gas tank was a good idea. Yup ethanol sounded SO good.

My other kid up in Alaska tells me of the ice breakup guessing game.
They have a pole out in the middle of a river. When the pole drops, it's "official" marker.. The ECO nuts are trying to make a big deal out of it, because is the second earliest "ice break" on record.
They refuse the accept the notion that the 5+ earthquake just a few days ago, not far away, had ANYTHING to do with it.

Here's one for "no voter fraud" Emery.
"Espinosa-Pena is a lawful permanent resident in Wake County, however, his application for United States citizenship had been denied. He had attempted to register to vote prior to the election but was initially denied since he was not a U.S. citizen. (RELATED: Nine Arrested In Texas For Illegal Voting Scheme, Says State AG)

"“When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’" according to Mr. Dodgson.

------

"R4BIA is a muslim signal."

I can think of a stronger signal. To quote Mr. O'Rourke.

"One by one and man to man Arabs are the salt of the earth - generous, hospitable, brave, wise, and so forth. But get you in a pack and shove a Koran down your pants and you act like a footlocker full of glue sniffing civet cats."

Check this out. The Dems have a new argument for Open Borders: Climate Change. But of course. Something Scenes’s Gal has been spouting..

“So what’s your solution to the border problem, Governor?”

“Number one,” Inslee said, “I would attack climate change because a lot of these people are climate refugees. Not all, but a lot of them.”.............

“So serious, in fact, the UNHCR happens to have a handy-dandy Global Compact on Refugees — an international agreement adopted by the General Assembly last December that requires participating nations to provide food, clothing, shelter and la dee da, practically everything for those fleeing “environmental degradation and natural disasters.”

Over 1500 attacks on Christian churches and symbols in the last two years in France. And last Friday the babe that tried to car bomb Notre Dame was jailed. I think we might be able to see the perps. Maybe a person from the Middle East? Or friends of the Charlie Hebdo cartoon killers?

Yes, the Nenana Ice Classic officially saw the tripod topple in the wee hours of the 14th. The determination of the winning bets and the payoff are a couple weeks away.https://www.nenanaakiceclassic.com/

Now, the influence of galactic cosmic rays on low cloud formations mean with more GCR, there are more clouds at mid latitudes and lower temperatures... but as clouds are not as pearly white reflective as snow and ice... with more GCR helping create more clouds at higher latitudes, in the frigid north, temps trend upwards.

I'm not making a claim that's what's led to a surprise winner of the Ice Classic, even though we're at a solar minimum... just a reminder there's more to it than what first meets the eye.

It’s all speculation right now. Gotta wait and see.
With that said......It took two separate attacks to bring down the Twin Towers. The Blind Sheik and 9/11. When you think about it, what other symbol of France, Western Culture, western civilization’s superior art, literature, and architecture than Norte Dame. Not even the Eiffel Tower embodies so much.

Can’t blame you or anyone for thinking the Jihadists were involved. I have a feeling that even IF Islamics were behind it, the French Government would never let the secret out. Political Correctness is killing the West.

Vandals have smashed statues, knocked down tabernacles, scattered or destroyed the Eucharist and torn down crosses, sparking fears of a rise in anti-Catholic sentiment in the country.

Last Sunday, the historic Church of St. Sulpice in Paris was set on fire just after midday mass on Sunday, Le Parisien reported, although no one was injured. Police are still investigating the attack, which firefighters have confidently attributed to arson.
The website Churchpop.com noted,

Since early February, vandals desecrated more than a dozen Catholic Churches throughout France. They’ve looted, burned, destroyed statues, threw consecrated hosts all over the floors, and marked a cross on the wall with human feces.
The Washington Post on April 2 reported: "Among attacks on churches in February, a cross of human excrement was found in the southern city of Nimes, a statue of Mary was smashed in a Paris suburb and a statue of Jesus decapitated...”

Todd-
"Maybe a person from the Middle East? Or friends of the Charlie Hebdo cartoon killers?"

Holy clue bender, you might be onto something Todd! Maybe it was a male, or, maybe it was a mole? No, more likely a female. Probably had brown eyes and was right handed. Over the age of 60 no doubt. We have a suspect! LOCK HER UP!!!

The extreme right has jumped onto yet another cause to turn into a Jade Helm or Sandy Hook conspiracy to promote their agenda but in the end will looking like the fools they are. Stick to your Dan Brown novels and let Clouseau handle this. Or let Todd be your mouthpiece and we'll assume all of you who don't say otherwise are lockstep in his paranoia.

Sounds like OOzzhole is actually cheering the destruction. Nope,, NO WAY it could be done by one who hates Christianity, despite all the recent attacks on Church's.
Never mind a Muslim "refugee" who "could" have done it. It's perfectly acceptable to do that where "they" came from.

So OOZZhole is now a Muslim protectionist?

But it could also be a halogen work light too close to a wood rafter, since that's where they think it started.

But OOzzhole and his buds can celebrate the destruction just the same.

The long list of anti-Catholic attacks and growing anti-Semitism in France is just the fruit of the secular left’s labor. Was it Scenes or Fish yesterday who asked. “Are there ay Catholics in France anymore?” My paraphrase. Probably not too many as the French (and most European nations) have turned away from Christianity. And in the USA as well. Mocking and verbally attacking Christianity by the Leftinistas is the inthing here as evidenced by the Clinton Campaign WikiLeaks e-mails and how the Christian haters never miss an opportunity to bash Christians here. It’s who they are. And it didn’t happen overnight. It’s been a long steady campaign.

As far as the rash of church desecrations going on in France, it’s sounds more than likely young French hooligan Socialist students or youth. The French youth like to burn things and vandalize. They even vandalized the Arc de Triomphe and armed guards were sent to protect it. Sort of like our OWS crowd after the sun goes down. Of Antifa. Anti-fascists are the new fascists. Christian bashing is the new cool. Burn it down! Destroy it all.

Walt-
They were also using flax (linseed) oil in the restoration. It doesn't take long for an oily rag to combust.

Though I am in no way Catholic by the longest stretch of imagination, I am in no way heartened by the destruction of such a monument either.

For Todd to preemptively use the tragedy as an anti-muslim device shows us the depth of his depravity, hate, and paranoia. It rings of Hitler and his pretexts for persecuting the Jews. If Muslims are to blame, so bit it and cut off their heads. If it is a construction accident, it is a construction accident.

OOZE and his troll ilk of the left blame the "alt" right for every little thing here and they do it right out of the box. But OOZE thinks we all forget what he does. I baited the troll and he took it. Shows all the total hypocrisy of these lefty trolls here. What a hoot! Hell the OOZE even hoes to Hitler! What is that called Gregory? Some axiom or something? Anyway, OZZE is just a run of the mill liberal loon troll. Nothing to see of any consequence.

"I always felt the British are very good at laughing at themselves; the Americans are better at laughing at other people," Gilliam told the Journal. "I still think it’s pretty true, but it’s changing because now we can’t laugh at anybody because it causes offense."

Today, I stand in solidarity with all the Catholics in the world. I, not a Catholic, would rather side with them anyway than throw my lot in with the soulless haters on the Dark Side.

“No wonder how many art pieces and artifacts that were sitting in the Notre Dame were stolen from former colonies," said user Shaziya. When confronted with criticism and backlash, she doubled down: "I’m criticizing French colonialism, if this bothers you so much then you ought to reevaluate your morals, bye."

"I think it sucks that Notre Dame is burning but f*** imagine if we had this same energy for every historic building we carpetbombed in the Middle East," said another user.

“Other users reveled in the fact that "white people" were saddened to see Notre Dame go up in flames. "I'm dying at the white people triggered," said one person named Aly. "It's a damn building that's literally used for tourism, no one died, move on."

"Notre Dame on fire is the most aesthetically pleasing visually I've ever seen," said another user.

"This one's for colonizing African countries b****," said another user.

"Notre Dame burning is cosmic karma for all the historical sites and artefacts [sic] France destroyed and stole when being colonialist scum," said the blue-checkmark "culture writer" Hikikomori Povich.

Insight: “An able, disinterested, public-spirited press, with trained intelligence to know the right and courage to do it, can preserve that public virtue without which popular government is a sham and a mockery. A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as itself.” —Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911)

Upright: “One of the reasons our politics is so contentious and angry is that we can’t agree on what the rules are. Some of us want to argue that certain policies are good and certain policies are bad. But a vocal chunk of Americans don’t really care about what the policies are; they would much rather argue that their side is right. They don’t care if these are the same policies or comparable to those they denounced earlier. The system is clogged with bad-faith arguments, hypocrisy, and flip-flopping.” —Jim Geraghty

The BIG Lie: “I do reject socialism as a[n] economic system. If people have that view, that’s their view. That is not the view of the Democratic Party.” —House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Non compos mentis: “There’s something bigger going on with this story. It tells us something about the right-wing rage machine and about how news priorities are set. The history of the United States is a tug of war over who belongs and who is equal and who has power. It’s the biggest story of all. And yet, those of us in the press often-times cover this just in tiny discreet bits.” —CNN’s Brian Stelter defending Rep. Ilhan Omar’s “some people … did something” statement regarding 9/11

Who knew? “Economic justice does include a living wage for everyone.” —Sen. Cory Booker

Braying Jackass: “The vice president is entitled to his religious beliefs. My problem is when those religious beliefs are used as an excuse to harm other people.” —Mayor Pete Buttigieg

Dead Diary: “I personally gave up Facebook, which was kind of a big deal because I started my campaign on Facebook. And Facebook was my primary digital organizing tool for a very long time. I gave up on it.” —Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

And last… “Look for facebook’s stock to plunge today since the Boss has quit it.” —Twitter parody account @AOCpress

“He is highly biblical, and I would say to your listeners, we will in all likelihood never see a more godly, biblical president again in our lifetime. So we need to be not only praying for him, we need to support him, in my opinion, in every possible way that we can.”

Huffington Post? I once met Michael Huffington at a convention for the R's along with my wife. He went gay to get away from the women he was married to. She was/is a gold-digger. Her "journals are crap/.

Todd.. I will be in the land of Druids next week. I will ask around if any know Emery. Oh.. Wait.. He ain't one. He just hijacked the word for personal benefit.(yaaa.... It sounds cool...)
Never heard of a pacifist Druid.(they were mean bastards)

Walt, watch out those Druids still sacrifice virgins. The Romans were in a five hundred year war with those meanies and finally, they were defeated. Now they sit on boulders at the river and stare at the women.

It's all good Todd,, It's the land of MY ancestors.(yup, I have rock solid proof of that)
Emery's kin only came in to try and rule the place. It didn't work out so hot in the long run. No real diff. between a Greek and a Roman,,, right Emery? Just a "name change".(kinda like LIB and Progressive... Same damned piece of work)

In response, Judicial Watch announced Tuesday it has filed lawsuits seeking the full release of all relevant documents. The flurry of litigation comes just days before Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report is set to be publicly released, with some redactions.

Separately on Tuesday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham was joined by Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson in sending a letter to the Justice Department demanding the release of information concerning the FBI's investigation of Clinton's private email server, known as the "Midyear Exam" probe.

As Schultz weighs a possible presidential campaign, many Democrats have been up-in-arms over the possibility that he will siphon votes away from the party’s eventual nominee. Schultz had been a long-time Democrat and one of the most progressive CEOs in Corporate America. More recently, however, he has been critical of the far-left tilt of the party as the growing list of candidates are embracing progressive issues such as universal health coverage and free college tuition.

Retaining a conservative consultant like McCloskey – which has yet to be reported – may further inflame the opposition Schultz has faced from top Democrats as well as party activists. As FOX Business first reported, some Democratic groups such as the Center for American Progress have put Starbucks on notice that if Schultz does indeed run as an independent in 2020, the company could pay a stiff price.

Kinda odd that the French said the cause of the Norte Dame fire was likely an accident while the timbers were still smoldering. Over here in the States, it takes at least a week or two to sift through the aftermath to determine the cause of arson or accident. Odd.

“The first question on everyone’s minds was whether Monday’s fire was set deliberately, though authorities have said it was an accident amid a multimillion-Euro renovation. Already this year, however, vandals have attacked numerous Catholic churches across France, destroying various objects within them or harming the buildings, including by setting two of them on fire” 🔥

“In 2017 alone the French government recorded 887 attacks on Christian artifacts or churches.”

“It’s unclear if any of these attacks have been attributed to Muslims, but given the rise of radical Islam in Europe, it’s not unthinkable. France, where at least one-eighth of the population follows Islam, has the Western world’s largest number of Muslims. And, of course, other deadly attacks in France have been perpetrated by radical Islamists.

“Yet far more important than the burning of Notre Dame is the metaphor it creates for Western Christianity. Once the center of Christendom, Europe has descended over the last two centuries into a secular, post-Christian — and often anti-Christian — malaise. Arguably, Europe was always more culturally Christian than doctrinally Christian, but now instead of the church being the center of society, government is.”

The socialist dems had lobotomized their sense of humor before Trump but now its psychotic -

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was pumped to attend a taping of The Price Is Right in Hollywood this week. The special guest introduced herself as a U.S. representative and rising star of the Democratic Party. Things got interesting when the game began and every time it was her turn to estimate the price of an item her answer was “free.”

Items included a set of Italian leather handbags, an all expenses paid trip to the Bahamas, and a brand new 2019 BMW 330i, at all of which Ocasio-Cortez shouted, “FREE!”
When host Drew Carey asked if Ocasio-Cortez understood the game’s rules, she told Carey not to cat-call her and then responded, “Don’t hate me cause you ain’t me.”

OH... So THAT'S it.... Todd's Conservative...
So of he was LIB, you would pat him on the back.... Got it
Thanks.
So maybe we should track down every LIB with a gun? So only Conservatives should have them? That's in line with YOUR thinking,,,
Whatda say to that Emery? And most mass killings have been done by Left leaning thinkers.(fact old geezer) So let's releave the likes of you of weapons...The streets will be safer.(and schools,malls,,,)

Well - the left shows again how 'inclusive' they are. Another thing to ban.https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/Cow-Palace-to-stop-hosting-gun-shows-beginning-in-13772291.php
Of course the bay area lefties still allow kiddies to watch gay porn, murders and rape on TV, because they don't want to be accused of censoring anything.
And rap songs glorifying violence against women, rape and murder are still on the air.
Glad to know the kiddies won't have to be subjected to the horror of non-violent white males politely visiting the bay area in a non-violent atmosphere.
And the Dems 'discuss' the future of a living human being just born lying on a table in a hospital.
Brave new world.

It's only getting worse for the LIBS and Hillary.https://dailycaller.com/2019/04/16/gop-senators-fbi-clinton-memo/
"The Republican chairmen of three Senate committees are pressing Attorney General William Barr for details about “highly classified information” that the FBI declined to investigate as part of the Hillary Clinton email probe.

According to the Republicans, the FBI drafted a memo in May 2016 saying that the information was “necessary” to complete the investigation into Clinton’s handling of classified information on her private email server.

But as the Justice Department inspector general found in a report released last year, the FBI declined to take up the matter before closing the Clinton investigation in July 2016.

Walt,
The Enemy of the People shithead media won’t say anything about it. A illegal killed a Muslim teenage girl. An illegal did it. The Wa Po and others did a lot of stories on the anti-Muslim fear in the Muslim community, blamed Trump, etc. Even covered the sentencing. Never mentioned the murderer was an illegal. Neither did the BBC. Finally, the NYT mentioned it. El Salvador.

The Philippine government announced on Monday it will take legal action against China for harvesting giant clams at the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.
Filipino fishermen complained, with video evidence to back them up, that Chinese Coast Guard ships are blocking their access to the shoal and seizing their catches while Chinese fishermen harvest the clams. The Philippine government has tended to downplay these claims until now, stating they have no conclusive evidence of the Chinese physically harassing Filipino fishermen in the area.

That seems to have changed suddenly with the release of a report by ABS-CBN News in which Filipino fishermen talked about China’s bullying tactics and mass harvesting of claims in the area, a process that disturbs the water so much that other forms of fishing become impossible. Mud blasted up into the ocean by the clam harvesting process can actually endanger the health of spear and net fishermen, as well as making the water too cloudy to work in and driving away so many fish that the livelihood of Filipino fishermen is in serious jeopardy.

ABS-CBN reporters actually found at least 14 Chinese boats engaged in these activities and saw “pile upon pile of dead giant clams, each batch marked distinctly with yellow, green, and red labels.”

“Furthermore, while that $79 million sounds great, in fact, the tax lagged projections by about 17 percent. Apparently, pennywise consumers with the means to do so don’t mind shopping outside the city for soda (and when they do, they take other shopping business with them).

“This leaves the bulk of the tax to be paid by the city’s lower-income population, which likes soda but has little choice but to buy it at its new premium price, making it a highly regressive tax. Furthermore, the tax falls disproportionately on the city’s black population, which has left the tax and its supporters open to charges of elitism and racism.

“Wrote Ernest Owens in Philadelphia magazine,

“The soda tax, as it currently exists, further aggravates our growing divide — on one side the privileged who can benefit from pre-K programs and recreation centers without ever sipping on a can of soda again, and on the other the impoverished and people of color who fund them.”

“Americans have a long history of resisting taxes on their drinks.

“Following the Revolutionary War, to pay off its hefty war debt, the federal government passed a tax on spirits that led to a full-scale revolt known as the Whiskey Rebellion (1791-1794). The rebellion saw several tax collectors tarred and feathered after its passage in 1791. Violence steadily escalated until George Washington, riding at the head of 13,000 militiamen, peacefully put down the rebellion in 1794. (Though a couple dozen ringleaders were arrested, all were acquitted or pardoned.)”

Administrivia - Just finished deleting a pot load of comments that contained references to commenters sexual affairs. Let's see how long I can keep that up before you guys stop the junior high playground slurs and name calling. And yes, I know - 'But he started it ...'

Immigration judges cannot release migrants who are caught sneaking into the United States, even if the migrants ask for asylum, says a binding legal decision by Attorney General William Barr.
The decision will dramatically shift the migration-caused civic and housing crises from the nation’s blue-collar communities over to the Congress and the Department of Homeland Security, whose budget and detention centers only have enough resources to house about 50,000 people year-round.

Don 8:24 - China will tell any court to go pound sand. What will the world do? What did the world do when the USSR closed Berlin against their own agreement? What did the world do when China reneged on their own agreements with Hong Kong?
I say cut China off and blockade the country until they leave the disputed islands they took by force. If not, the spoiled brat will do what it wants and we will all have to suffer the consequences.
Global chaos? Of course. But nothing to compare to what is to come. Russia and China must be brought to heel now or we repeat the same mistake we made in '38 letting Hitler have his way.
Does the world have the nerve? Of course not. We didn't in '38 and we don't have it now. Fun and games to follow.

A long read, but a good review of Russian Collusion as we approach the eve of the Mueller report release. The media goes not look good nor neither does every argument the Popinjay wasted our time for months obsessively putting forth....not to mention the 17 iintel agencies. :). A great chronology of events.

Scott I think Trump kicking nato in the ass, empowering central Europe, the northern tier and selling everything wanted by our real friends with the new world attitude will clip the dragons wings. Our friends are coordinating their buys to complement each other and owning their space like never before.

A word of warning for our cap and trade scammers.(yaa. You on the Left)https://dailycaller.com/2019/04/17/alberta-canada-carbon-tax/
It’s the first time an Albertan government has been toppled after only one term in power, and it’s the second time in the last year conservatives have won a landslide victory on a platform centered around repealing carbon taxes.

“Friends, tonight the silent majority has spoken,” Kenney said in his victory speech. “They have chosen free enterprise values over the politics of resentment.”

Don 11:04 - Trump is doing what he can and I think Japan and the Philippines and possibly Indonesia are getting nervous. China just marched into Tibet and took over and the world put bumper stickers on their cars.
Europe is too far gone for the most part. Germany, France and England are being take over by North Africa and the response is everything from welcoming it (Germany), Resentment (France) and some actual pushback (England). The Scandinavian countries and the low countries are in no position to do much. Russia has the enviable position of being able to survive as a nation under extreme hardship and deprivation, so economic pressure on them doesn't accomplish as much as it does on China. China's economic boom has allowed Xi to take over as eternal dictator with popular support from the masses. He needs to keep it going, and when times get tough - dictators need to find countries to conquer and loot. Just as we see some hope of North Korea coming out of their nightmare, China is sliding into a new kind of high-tech totalitarian disaster. I think Xi read Brave New World, Animal Farm and 1984 and believes them to be guidebooks - not cautionary tales.

Perhaps a word on the Notre-Dame school... of polyphony. Music. Co-incident with the building of the great cathedral was the beginnings of Western music. The first two composers whose names are known (from the writings of an English student at Notre-Dame known only as Anonymous IV) are Leonin and Perotin, believed to have been employed at the cathedral. Leonin left a number of two part Organum (two voices dancing above a chant), Perotin built upon the two part theory and wrote three and four part polyphonic song.

The technology of music notation was also new... five lines drawn across the page, with squares (mostly) showing tones but not the length of the notes. That came later. In a second semester of a history of technology sequence I took at Scripps College, I wrote a research paper on music notation (earned an A and a real nice note from the prof who contrasted it with the paper I'd written for the first semester, that for good reasons wasn't as well received). As a freshman (and sophomore, I think) at Mudd I also had a weekly radio slot at KSPC (Pomona College's station) where I played selections mostly from my own collection of early music. from Perotin to early Baroque, such as written by Claudio Monterverdi of the Venetian school.